We’re back with another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners that invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you’re feeling it!

The random number generator landed on book #310 so this week’s book is: A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss and Survival by Melissa Fleming! I added this back in April 2018, so it’s been on my list for a while…

Doaa and her family leave war-torn Syria for Egypt where the climate is becoming politically unstable and increasingly dangerous. She meets and falls in love with Bassem, a former Free Syrian Army fighter and together they decide to leave behind the hardship and harassment they face in Egypt to flee for Europe, joining the ranks of the thousands of refugees who make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean on overcrowded and run-down ships to seek asylum overseas and begin a new life. After four days at sea, their boat is sunk by another boat filled with angry men shouting threats and insults. With no land in sight and surrounded by bloated, floating corpses, Doaa is adrift with a child’s inflatable water ring around her waist, while two little girls cling to her neck. Doaa must stay alive for them. She must not lose strength. She must not lose hope.

Why do I want to read it?

I honestly don’t remember when or how I came across this book. If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you’ll know that I’m not shy in mentioning that I struggle with NF and I don’t read it often. I do like the *idea* of reading NF and so I’m not opposed to adding them to my TBR list whenever I stumble across one that I think I’ll like. Melissa Fleming is Head of Communications and Chief Spokesperson for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Whenever I think about the refugee crisis, it always breaks my heart. I cannot imagine the fear and desperation people must face to choose to leave their home and move to a completely different country and continent, just to find safety and live a better life. This sounds like a moving read, but I have heard some mixed reviews, particularly about the writing. I don’t know if I’ll get to this anytime soon, but I think I will keep it on my TBR!

Have you read A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea? Or is it on your TBR too? Let me know in the comments below and let’s chat books!